Germany hits renewable energy milestone

Germany generated more than a third of its energy from renewable sources in the first half of this year, according to figures published by the German Association of Energy and Water Industies (BDEW).

While coal is still the main source of energy, the use of renewable sources such as solar, wind, hydro and biomass is growing at record levels, accounting for 31% of energy in the first half of the year, the association said last week.

Solar power plants have increased their production compared to the same period last year by 28%, and wind power grew by 19% over the same period. In June, solar systems produced twice as much electricity as wind turbines. Solar and wind together produced around 17% of Germany's net electricity generation.

Coal-fired power plants produced 4% less energy in the first half of the year than in 2013, and the biggest change has been to energy derived from gas. According to the BDEW, energy production from gas power plants has halved compared to the first half of 2010.

Electricity exports from Germany have increased this year, with the majority exported to Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Poland. Some of these countries then export the energy to the likes of Belgium, the UK and Italy.

The increase in renewables has led to greater investment in the sector. Last week, energy company Vattenfall announced plans to create a €1.2 billion offshore wind turbine park in the North Sea. The 72 turbines should be operational in 2017.

Meanwhile, German energy company RWE has announced the closure of three unprofitable power plants. Earlier this year it said it would close ten plants by 2017 at the latest. RWE says “conventional power generation is losing ground” and called on the German government to intervene in the energy market to keep some fossil-fuel power plants running as a back-up for “less predictable” sources such as wind and solar.

On 1 August, the German renewable energy act, which receives financial support from the European Commission, came into force. It aims to support the production of electricity from renewable sources and meet carbon emission targets.

Through the EU’s renewable energy guidelines, member states have binding national targets for raising the share of renewables in their energy consumption by 2020. The aim is to raise the share to 20% for the EU as a whole, though each member state has a different starting point. Malta set a target of 10%, while renewable energy in Sweden should make up 49% of the country's production the coming years.